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5789 | I now think syntax is not in the physics, but in the eye of the beholder [Searle] |
Full Idea: It seems to me now that syntax is not intrinsic to the physics of the system, but is in the eye of the beholder. | |
From: John Searle (The Mystery of Consciousness [1997], Ch.1) | |
A reaction: This seems right, in that whether strung beads are a toy or an abacus depends on the user. It doesn't follow that the 'beholder' stands outside the physics. A beholder is another physical system, of a particular type of high complexity. |